Calling dial device



Aug. 24, 1943. H, w. GQFF 2,327,782

CALLING DIAL DEVICE Filed April 16, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 FIG. 42 il? Arm/W Patented Aug. 24, 1943 UNITED TSTATES PATENT i 2,327,782 t i CALLING nrALfnEvIcE Harold'W. Gold, Manhasset, N. Y., "assignor to 'Bell Telephone Laboratories, IncerporatedyNew York, N. Y., a corporation-of New-York Application April 16, 1942, Serial No; 439,229

Claims.

This inventionrelates to telephone calling dial devices and more particularly to telephone calling dial devices in whicha finger wheel is provided i to facilitate manual operation of a rotatable shaft in the device.

The finger Wheel in a telephone calling dial device sometimes becomes broken or marred in service andmust-be detached .from the device and replaced Joy-another finger-Wheel. This is particularly true inthe case where the finger wheel is made of molded plastic material.

It has been found thatvbreaking of the finger wheel may be prevented insome measure by providing a flexible support'for the fingerwheel,

It is an object of this invention to provide a flexible support for the finger wheel and one that permits ready application of the finger wheel to the calling dialdevice-and removal therefrom.

, wheel separatedfrom the spider type support;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section,

, of a fragmentary portion of; the finger Wheel and ,-parts of the spider type support taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. l; V

Fig. 4 is a View correspondingto Fig. 2 but with parts off-the spider typesupport. separated and with a station identification card and associated members separated from eachotherand from the finger wheel; v

Fig. 5 is atop plan view of the spider type support mounted on thelshaft of the calling dial ,deviceand with one part of the spider type support rotatedrelative to the other and latched in the position taken when the finger wheel is secured in place; and

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the partsshown in Fig. 5 but in unlatched condition.

{The telephone calling dial deviceas shown "in Fig.1 comprises a casing Iii-and a finger wheel i H. The finger wheel I! islocated above the casing Hi and is' supportedby-a two part flexible v spider type' supportv l2, the structure of which will' 'be subsequently described. The spider type support. I2 is supported on the rotatable operating shaft [3' of the calling .dial device and is held on theashaft' I3;'by means of the nut' [4. The

shaft l3 extend dow'riiward through thef'casl'ng IE! and may be manually -operated"by"means"6f the finger wheel I l tofwiiidfup a spring "(not shown) but-which as" well understood in"the"art 5 is partof .a. springiinotor'whichse'rves toreturn the finger wheel "to" normal position"and"as"a driving means for a contact controllingde'vice I 5 operating springcontacts lfifand I T to'control the sending (if-signal"pulsesfovera line system 10 to obtain -a' "desiredjteleplione call connection.

,A ringshap'edidial"l 8"bearirig"groups of letters arid"numbers on its upper-race is"supportdin the top of the casing" l0,fthe;gro11ps"being ar- "ranged in ,pes'itions" for separate observance To simplifythe'descriptionandnot in thesense of limiting" the invention, it -will beassumed' that the finger' wheelfl 'madepfmolded plastic material and thatthe"pa'rtsf of"thespider type su port l2 aremade o'f {sheet metal. Itw-ill be obvious, however, that theparts described may bevmade of other materials"without"departing from thespirit'of the'invention.

port [2 comprises WWW-separable; plates 2| and 22 supported *on the toperating f shaft l3- of F the callingdiardeviceand' heldthereonby means of the nut M which is 'scr'ew threaded-on sha ft l3.

aperture'dat the c'eriterto receive the shaft '13 and having outwardly extending leg members to extend into recesses provided "in the flnger wheel I l. Thementral aperture hi t-heplate -2l is formed to-fit over=-a shoiildered=en1argenrent 23 on the shaft l3 which as shown in Fige4= has fiatsides 24 24 so that the plate' 2 l=-w*ill not-turn relative-to t-he"shaft 'l3.' The =legs' 25, 26 and 2'1 on the plate 2 I have downwardlyturned-corners 28 and are i provided with upwardly extending embossments 9,: loca'ted near the outer :ends of thelees and 'lin an :a'dvancedl position relative :to the 'Center line ofreachflleg. The: central aperture 30 in thelplate 22 is-iormed-to accommodate the upper threaded :end portion of-' the shaft 3 and a-downwardly extendingannular boss 3| formed on thelower surtaceof theInut-M. The legs '32, 33 :and 34 -of-the Tplate ZZ are-bentslightly downward from-the plane of the central portion of the;plate and havesmooth upper and lower surfaces so that a they may slidein an annular groove =35 formed inian "annular' wall 3B- which defines a centralvopening-3'l'dn -the finger wheel I I. The opening-3ft ,extends fromthe lundersurface of the finger -wheel I l: intoan .annular boss As shown in" thedra'wings, the spider type supenlargement 43 on the plate 2| is an enlarge- 2 ment of a portion of the central portion of the The latch means com- I wheel I plate 2| and is located between the legs 23 and a 2? of the plate 2|. The flexible arm 42 of the plate 22 extends in the form. of anarc from the rear edge of the leg 34 and toward the leg 33 and is located about half way along the leg 34.

The free end of the arm 42 is bent upwardly at 44 and then in a plane parallel to and slightly above the plane of the main portion of the arm -42 to provide a toe 45to overlie the upper surface'of the enlargement 43which is notched on .one edge to provide the steps 41 and 48. Along the outer edge of the arm 42, a lug 49 is provided to engage the step 41 on the enlargement 43 when the plate 22 is in one position relative to the plate -,2,|', the lug '49 extendingv downwardly from the plane ofther'main portion ofthe arm 42 and below the lower surface of the plate 2i when the plate 22 is mounted. over the plate 2!. The lug 49 is'offset from the main run of the arm 42 and from the the 45 and'is located between the toe 45 and the leg 34'. The lug 49 is shaped along oneedge to provide a downwardly sloping cam surface 53 terminating at the lower end in a V-notch 5| into. which. a screw-driver or other su itable. tool may be inserted to lift the arm 42 relative to theplate'Zl and rotate the plate 22 ms counter-clockwisedirection. The same tool may be applied to the opposite edge of the lug 9andbelowthe'plate'fl to'rotate the plate 22 ina clockwise direction."

In the finger wheel H spaced recesses 52, 53

v and 54 are formed to receive the outer end 'por tions of the legs"- of. the spider type support l2, the recesses 52, 53- and 54 being open at the bottom andterminating at the top in the upper wall 55 of the annular groove The annular groove 35 is only of sufiicient-width to readily accommodatethe outer-end portions of the legs 32, 33 and 34 and serves as a receptacle for the outer end portions of thelegs 32, 33. and 34 and also as' a receptacle for cars 56 provided onthe retainer made of sheet metal or other suitable material .and is dished so that it presents a convex sur-' 1 face on its upperface to the under surface of the number card 39. .Spaced ears 56 are provided on the outer edge of the disc 4| to engage in the annular groove 35 in the finger wheel H, the cars 55 having offset end portions to extend into the groove 35. I The disc 4| is apertured at 51 to accommodate the upper end of the shaft |3 and tabs 58-58 are formed on the under surface of the disc 4| to facilitate turning the disc 4| to bring the ears 56 into the groove 35. A notch is made in the disc 4| at 59 to accommodate a "projection (not shown) but which is formed in the inner portion of the finger wheel i Q the projection being used to prevent the number card The parts above described are assembled in the following manner. The transparent cover disc is placed within the finger wheel I I and so that the outer edge of the cover disk 40 bears against an overhang 69 extending inwardly from the annular boss 38 as shownin Fig. {The station identification number card 39 is placed against the trans-parent cover disk 40 and so that the number on the upper surface of the card may be viewed through the transparent cover disk 40, the card retainer disk 4| is then placed against the number card 39, the cars being passed upwardly through the recesses 52, 53 and 54 in the finger wheel II and until the ears 56 are in the same plane as the groove 35. disk 4| is then rotated relative to the finger wheel H by manually pressing against the tabs 58 and rotating the retainer disk 4| until the cars 56 pass a considerable distance in theannular groove 35. Whenthe ears 55 are in the groove '35 as shown in-Fig. 2,- the retainefldisk 4| prevents the card 39 and the transparent disk 49 from dropping out of the finger wheel V The overhang as shown-in Fig. 1 preve'ntsremoval of the transparent disk 40 and the card 39 through the top of the finger wheel- I The spider type support" I2 is assembled by placing the plate 2| on the rotatable shaft |3as shown in Fig. 4 and so that the'plate 2| cannot turn relative to the'shaft I3. The'plate 22 is then placed directly over the-plate 2| and so that it rests on the embossments 29 and with the legs 32, 33 and 34 in register with the respective legs 25,25 and 27 0f the plate 2-|.- In' this position as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the lug 49 of 'the arm 42 is in engagement with the step 41 on the plate 2|, and the free end of the arm 42 rests on the upper surface of the -'enlargement 43 of the plate 2| and with the toe'45'elevated relativeito-the upper surface of the plate 2|. The nut l4 is'the'n applied to the upper end of theshaft "|3-a 'nd is screwed down until the annular boss 3| on the lower surface of the nut I4 is within the aperture 33 in the plate 22 and the nut 14 is holding the plate 22 clamped to the plate 2|. The boss 3| on the nut I4 being slightly longer than the thickness of the plate 22 and bearing against shoulder 23 on the shaft l3, the boss 3| on the nut I4 serves as a bearing for the plate 22. When the nut I4 is tightened, it presses the central portion of the plate 22 slightly downward from its normal plane and more nearly'in' the plane of =3 the outer ends of the'legsof the plate. It will be seen therefore that some slight spring tension is developed in the plate 22. There isalso "some spring tension developed in the arm'42 since-the lower surface of the free end of the arm 42 is resting on the upper surface of the plate 2|.

When the spider type support 12 is assembled and mounted on the shaft |3 as shown in Figs. 2

and 6, the finger wheel maybe applied to the spider type support l2 by placing the finger wheel i i over the spider type'support I2 and so that the legs of the spider type support pass upwardly within the recesses '52, 53 and 54 and the legs 32, 33 and 34 of the plate 22 are in engagement with the top wall 55 of the annular groove 35. To secure the finger wheel I in place, the plate 22 is-then rotated in a clockwise direction to 2 slide the legs .32, 33 and 34 along theannular groove 35 and. past the respective recesses 52; 53

and 54. The clockwise rotation of the plate't22'is accomplished by manually forcing the lug on The retainer egeevgvse into engagement with the step fi on .the plate 2I, In moving the plate 22in" the clockwise direction a screw-driver or other suitable tool may be used to apply the necessary force to the lug "t9. Since the outer end of the toe 45 is still in overlapped condition relative to the upper surface of the plate 2i there is still sufi'icient spring tension in the arm 42 to retainsthe offset 44 of During .the rotation of the plate 22 relativeito-the ,plate ZI the legs of'the plate 22 ride on the em- This construction reduces the bossments 29. friction betweentheplates 2i and 22 and holds the legs 32, 33 and 3 sufficiently elevated from the respective legs 25, 26 and 21 and relative to upper corners of the recesses 52, 53 and 54 so that the legs 32, 33 and 34 may readily pass into the groove 35. The downwardly turned corner portions 28 on the legs 25, 26 and 21 of the plate 2I prevent these legs from entering the groove 35. The plate 22 as shown in Fig. 5 cannot be rotated too far in a clockwise direction and relative to the plate 2! because the lug id is made sufficiently long to engage theleg 21 before the toe 45 can pass entirely off the plate 2i.

It will be seen thatthe finger wheel II as shown in Fig. l is held mounted on the spider type support I2 when the legs 32, 3 3 and 34 of the plate 22 are in the groove and the plates El and 22 are in the relative positions shown in Fig. 5, and that accidental counter-clockwise rotation of the plate 22 to bring the legs 32, 33 and 34 out of the groove 35 is prevented by engagement of the offset bend M of the arm d2 against the step ill. The finger wheel II may be manually rotated in a clockwise direction to rotate the shaft I3 in the well-known manner to dial the telephone call.

Release of the finger wheel II from the spider type support I2 may be readily accomplished by pressing the lug d9 upwardly until the bend M of the arm d2 comes above the upper surface of the plate 2! and out of engagement with the step 58 and then by forcing the plate 22 in a counterclockwise direction until the legs 32, 33 and 34 come out of the groove 35 and into the respective recesses 52, 53 and M in the finger wheel. I I. In this case the plates 2| and 22 are in the positions shown in Fig. 6 and the finger wheel II maybe lifted off the spider type support I2 as shown in Fig. 2. Too far turning of the plate 22 in a counter-clockwise direction over the plate 2! is prevented by engagement of the lug 49 with the step ii,

In releasing the finger wheel I I from the spider type support I2, the lug 49 may be readily lifted and the plate 22 rotated in a counter-clockwise direction by inserting a screwdriver or other convenient tool between the finger wheel I I and the dial It and into engagement with the cam surface 58 and then forcing the tool along the cam surface 53 toward the notch 5|. This will result in lifting the arm 2 to release the bend 44 from the step id Further pressing of the tool in the notch 5I will result in counter-clockwise rotation of the plate 22 to the released position shown in Fig. 6.

The spider type support It provides a flexible support for the finger wheel II and will allow the finger wheel II to move slightly downward toward the dial II] when undue heavy pressure is applied to the finger wheel I I by a person dialing ".a telephone cfalIJ The -fiexible support I2 will therefore, in somemeasure, prevent fracture-of the finger wheel when undue i heavy pressure" is applied to the-finger wheel.

Since the"two-pa'r.ts of the spider type support I-I'Z are. only held in position to hold the finger wheel oper'atively mounted on the calling dial 'device by means of the latch comprising the-arm 42, ithe bend :44 and the step 48 and the fingerwheel :I IImay 'beunlatched by simply lifting the arm -tl2 androtating the :plate22 into matching relathe arm '52. pressed down against the step $48.

tion With the plate ZI,the finger'wheel II may be readily'removed-and replaced by aiiotherfinger wheel} 1 .5 w I 1 Wha-t isclaimed is:

' :aLi A spider type support comprising a fixed plate and a rotatable plate, said plates being of spider-like form, means holding said plates in face-to-face relation, latch means comprising a flexible arm on one of said plates and a notched enlarged central portion on the other of said plates providing a step engaged by said arm, and said latch means cooperating to releasably hold said plates in relatively rotated positions.

2. A spider type support comprising a shaft, a plate fixedly mounted on said shaft, a second plate rotatably mounted on said shaft and in face-to-face relation with .the first plate, said plates being of spider-like form, means holding said plates on said shaft, an enlarged central portion on one of said plates, formed to provide a step, a flexible arm on the other of said plates and extending over said enlarged central portion,

and means on said flexible arm and engaging the step on said enlarged central portion and cooperating therewith to hold said plates in relatively rotated positions.

3. In a telephone calling dial device involving a rotatable shaft and a manually operated finger wheel to rotate said shaft, spaced recesses formed in the lower surface of said finger wheel and opening toward the center of said finger wheel, an annular groove formed in said finger wheel and extending to said recesses, a flexible spider type support mounted on'said shaft and having legs to enter said recesses, said spider type support comprising two plates arranged one above the other, the lower plate being fixedly supported on said shaft and the upper plate being rotatable relative to the lower plate so that the legs on the upper plate will pass from said recesses and into said annular groove to hold said finger wheel mounted on said spider type support, and releasablelatch means on the plates of said spider type support and operating to hold the upper plate in advanced rotated position relative to the lower plate.

4. In a telephone calling dial device involving a rotatable shaft and a manually operated finger wheel to rotate said shaft, spaced recesses formed in the lower surface of said finger wheel and opening toward the center of said finger wheel, an annular groove formed in said finger Wheel and extending into said recesses, a spider type plate mounted on said shaft and arranged to turn with said shaft, legs on said spider type plate engaging in said recesses, a second spider type plate of flexible material disposed above .groove to, hold said finger Wheel in operating ,a rotatable shaft and afinger wheel for rotating said shaft, a two-part flexible spiderv type support for operatively connecting said finger, wheel to said shaft, said spider type support comprising a fixed spider plate mounted on said shaft and having its leg members in driving "engagement with said finger wheel, a second spider pplate oi flexible material disposed above said fixed plate and rotatable thereover and having its, leg members in clamping engagement with said finger wheel, means holding said spider vplates mounted on said shaft, a flexible arm on v said second spider plate extending into engagement with said fixed spider plate and overlapping a portion of said fixed spider plate, an 011'- set on said fiexible arm engaging an edgeof said fixed: plate and cooperating therewith to hold said plates in'relatively rotated positions, and a lug on said flexible arm extending below said fixed plate and below said finger wheel to facilitate release of said flexible arm from holding 15 engagement with said fixed plate.

7 HAROLD W GOFF'. 

